Near the end of July my daughter, KatyMarie and I took Ginger Brook Hollow to the National Doll Festival that is held every year in conjunction with the UFDC convention. We planned a display that I have wanted to do for several years, but it was too complicated to do for a smaller show and too difficult to ship. Because we were able to drive as far as Anaheim, California in 10-11 hours, we were able to take a fancier display than we could if we had to travel farther. Still, by the time we took the display and all of the dolls, trunks, and things to sell, we still had to tie some things to the top of the car. 
We stopped in the dessert to take a picture just before the sun set. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. There is an antique rocking chair on top of the car.
Just getting everything inside (and outside) of the car took enough time that we didn’t make it in time to set up the night before, so we were up bright and early putting the display together as fast as we possibly could. When the show opened, our little booth took on the look of an old time general store as much as we could make that possible in just 13′ by 4′. Here is just what that looked like.
The Rocking Chair Finds a Resting Place.
Even though the booth was small, the shelves and baskets allowed us to have a lot of little things for sale in this display. We didn’t have any pickles, as Harold might have, but we did have a genuine antique pickel barrel filled with our Ginger Brook Hollow tote bags.
As you can see, there are even dress stands. Oops, this must have been on the last day because the Dream Doll stands are empty on the top shelf. That is because we sold out of some of the dolls. Can you tell which ones?
Do you like Emmaline’s little apple boxes in the bottom left hand corner. We’d love to have them in Harold’s store, but shipping becomes complicated, so we are trying to think of a way to share them with all of our Friends and Neighbors.
Our favorite part of the booth was the right side where we had the sales counter and glass cases.
Where we kept the "penny" candy
This was KatyMarie’s territory. Under the cases we had things from Harold’s store like the beaded purses and the jewelry that has been offered in the past. On the shelf behind the counter we actually had some time period calico prints and some nice pieces of small lace for sale. If you look closely, you’ll also see that there is a jar filled with each one of the girls’ favorite kind of candy. Do you know which one your favorite girl likes?
In this picture two of the “little girls” are wearing Dream Circle outfits and there is actually a dream pillow for sale all made up.
KatyMarie enjoyed giving out our miniature souvenir hat pins, and I have to admit that I enjoyed creating them. Both of us enjoyed dressing the part.
"Would you like to choose one of our hat pins?"
We didn’t think it was right to have an old fashioned general store and look modern.
"Welcome, Friends and Neighbors"
We especially like having our “Friends and Neighbors” come by and tell us “Hello”. During the show we did have more “Friends and Neighbors” join us as they learned about Ginger Brook Hollow.
"Good Morning, we're just opening the shop."
You can see Grandma and Johannah standing together on the corner of the cupboard. Kathryn started out there, but she kept being adopted.
In the picture on the left, KatyMarie is just taking her place as we opened up shop. The shelves to the left are still covered as they have been for the night.
The show was five days long. There were a lot of nice dolls and vendors. We talked to many people and made new friends. We were tired when the last day ended and a little bit sad to take our “store” down and pack everything up. At least we sold enough to go home with everything on the inside of the car. (I think we packed a little bit better too.)
Was it worth it? I think so. We created memories that have made it easier for us to say “good bye” to our beautiful 17″ girls, and I actually had a small dream come true as I recreated a little piece of Harold’s store (or something that felt like it).
We ended our trip as far west as we could go by watching the sunset at the beach. So long California, and so long to our 17″ Where Love’s Circle Begins line of dolls! We are going to miss these girls, but we hope for a new and bright future.
-Cheri
Closing of This Adventure
Wow! Everything looks wonderful! I enjoyed the photos very much and also the details of your fun at the doll show. Both of you look adorable in Victorian dresses! It sounds like it was a very successful venture. I’m so glad that more girls were adopted.
Thanks for sharing this, Cheri!
Carolyn